Swiss jewelry house of de Grisogono visits SF

De Grisogono Cocktail Party: Honoring the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Gem lover Dede Wilsey with de Grisogono CEO Fawaz Gruosi at a trunk show of the jewelry at Taj Campton Place Hotel (Laura Morton for Drew Altizer Photography)

It’s often difficult, even for the dedicated luxury shopper, to distinguish between one high-end jewelry house and another, with white diamonds and gold so ubiquitous.

That’s the thinking, at least, of the Swiss jewelry house of de Grisogono, which sets itself apart from the competition not only with its name (pronounced “day Gree-ZOH-guh-no”) but most notably with an emphasis on black diamonds in designs that include colorful precious gems, set in gold that has been tinted chocolate brown and even black.

The Geneva-based company’s chief executive officer, Fawaz Gruosi, visited San Francisco this week to hold a trunk show and to introduce himself to the city’s top art collectors at a party at Taj Campton Place Hotel hosted for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, in honor of client Dede Wilsey. We also nabbed him for a Q&A. More on that in a bit.

De Grisogono Cocktail Party: Honoring the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Lonna Wais (left) watches as Afsaneh Akhtari tries a sea star bracelet studded in gems, one of de Grisogono's bolder pieces, at a recent trunk show in San Francisco (Laura Morton for Drew Altizer)

At the party, guests including Carole McNeil, Adria Bini, Clos Pegase founder Jan Shrem, and Maria Manetti Farrow, with longtime friend Rene Fleming (currently starring in the San Francisco Opera’s “Lucrezia Borgia,”) learned that Gruosi got his start in Florence, Italy, working in a jewelry store and moved on to London, where he worked for Harry Winston in the Middle East, and finally, Bulgari.

De Grisogono Cocktail Party: Honoring the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Opera star Rene Fleming at left with Maria Manetti Farrow at the de Grisogono trunk show. Photo by Laura Morton for Drew Altizer.

In 1993, he formed his own company and — intrigued by the unusual beauty of black diamonds — began promoting them to clients seeking exotic, rather than traditional, pieces.

And, as any Geneva-based jeweler knows, it was incumbent on him to design a line of Swiss watches. His wares run from several thousand dollars to more than $300,000 for the Meccanico DG timepiece, the first all-mechanical digital watch (it shows analog and digital time without an LED screen, has 651 components and has been called the world’s most complicated mechanical timepiece.)

This bracelet, by Swiss luxury jeweler de Grisogono, runs about $450,000. (Laura Morton for Drew Altizer)

Of course, any visit is not all play and no work, so over lunch the day before the cocktail party, he sat with SFUnzipped to reveal a bit more about himself and the house of de Grisogono.

Q: Your first job was working at a jewelry shop in Florence when you were 18. Was that what you wanted to do when you grew up?

A: I dreamed of many things between childhood and my teenage years, including becoming a pilot or a doctor. The choice was not made by me, but by destiny. I had fathered a child at age 18 and my mother said I had to take responsibility. At the time, Florence was very provincial, and working in a jewelry store was a job for ladies. I was the assistant to the assistant and nobody took me seriously. My first day on the job, I was told to clean the window outside. I grew up that day. I cleaned it very quickly — I was scared my friends would see me in the window. I had to bring the coffee. I did these things and learned quickly. I got to love jewelry immediately. Soon I was the manager of the shop, and I was sent to London to help a branch of the store. My English was terrible, but I convinced them to keep me there, even though I was too young and inexperienced at 23.

Q: And then you went on to Harry Winston?

A: At 30, I became general manager of Harry Winston in Saudi Arabia. It was from 1978-1982, during the boom of the oil. It was not difficult to be successful. For those clients, talking about a million dollars was like talking about a couple of thousand. My worst day I sold $500,000 and my best day I sold $8.2 million.

Q: And from there?

A: I met Gianni Bulgari, and was hired to be in charge of private sales worldwide, which I did for six or seven years. I flew only on private jets, never commercial, and enjoyed other parts of the luxury lifestyle. I started to realize, however, that I needed to come back to reality. I left and worked buying and selling stones to Bulgari for a few years, then found some partners and opened a shop in Geneva. But buying jewelry done by other designers wasn’t my style. I urged my partners to make our own. They were scared, so I bought them out in 1994.

Q: What is the hallmark of de Grisogono?

A: The jewelry market was saturated. People needed something different. I wrote a book on black diamonds, with research I did at Sotheby’s and Christies. I understood you had to give the public something different. The trend then was for small jewelry in white gold, minimalist. I did the opposite: Big, bold, mixing colors. Then came the black diamonds. When there is something new, it takes people a while to digest it. I started mixing black into gold, and brown into gold. I started using the skin of sting rays in women’s bracelets. It was a big hit. I also began using white, gray and dark gray diamonds, which I called “Icy Diamonds.” Those were a hit.

Q: You’re not well-known in the United States. Where are your boutiques?

A: Japan, Kuwait, Dubai, Rome, Sardinia, London and in New York, we’re at Bergdorf Goodman.

Q: How many pieces do you make each year?

A: We custom-make 400 to 500 pieces a year, and no more than 1,200 of any object we design are made in any one year.

Q: Do you make the designs yourself?

A: I do. I get inspiration from many places — from nature, from a slice of lemon, or even a glass of water on the dining table.

Q: How would you describe your customer?

A: She wants to wear a big ring in the morning without shocking anybody. She doesn’t want a matching set of anything. Women today mix Tod’s, Hermes and Dolce & Gabbana into one outfit. They wear an item from an unknown shop with Dior or Chanel. You have to be comfortable in it, or you look self-conscious and very bad.

Q: Why sell expensive watches when everyone seems to be using cell phones to keep time?

A: I was just reading in the paper that the export of Swiss watches has never been higher. The luxury business is booming, in my opinion, thanks to emerging countries such as Brazil, India and China. Luxury goods will never die. The human race needs to dream, whether you’re dreaming for a pizza or a luxury yacht. If you don’t dream, you don’t give a damn. Without a dream, there is no life.

Q: Speaking of life, do you have any hobbies?

A: I don’t have any hobbies. I travel 297 days a year for work. My clients have become my friends, so wherever I go, they organize something. I do love cooking — I used to cook every day, but now it’s rare. I don’t have time. I like to cook chicken or fish. A normal tomato sauce for me takes 3 1/2 hours.